A ‘Juicy’ Offer! PETA Offers to Help Niku Steakhouse Rebuild After Fire—With One Condition 

For Immediate Release:
April 8, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

Following a fire at Niku Steakhouse that has caused the Michelin-starred restaurant to start a GoFundMe to support staff while it rebuilds, PETA sent a letter today to Omakase Restaurant Group’s CEO and Cofounder Kash Feng, offering to donate $5,000 toward the fundraiser—provided the restaurant agrees to add a tasty vegan steak to its menu. PETA is also offering to help the restaurant get cooking by providing $1,000 worth of the 100% cholesterol-free, 100% cruelty-free steaks from meat-free maestros like the Herbivorous Butcher and Juicy Marbles.

PETA points out that the global vegan meat industry is set to more than double in value by 2030—and with consumer demand for plant-powered cuisine continuing to skyrocket, restaurants that don’t cater to all by offering hearty and humane vegan options might soon find themselves with no reservations.

“Cows are individuals who feel pain and fear, value their own lives, and don’t want to be sliced to pieces and plated at a steakhouse any more than we would,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA encourages Niku Steakhouse to prove that it’s a cut above by adding delicious meat-free fare that everyone can enjoy.”

Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year a miserable life and a terrifying death. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—points out thatEvery Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.

PETA’s letter to Feng follows.

April 8, 2025

Kash Feng

CEO and Cofounder

Omakase Restaurant Group

Via e-mail

Dear Mr. Keng:

I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, including hundreds of thousands across California—in response to your GoFundMe campaign to support staff after a fire at Niku Steakhouse damaged its kitchen. PETA is interested in contributing $5,000 to the fund if you will add a vegan steak to the menu and prominently feature and promote it. We’ll also donate $1,000 worth of hearty, super-tasty vegan steaks to you from vegan meat maestros like The Herbivorous Butcher and Juicy Marbles. Please allow me to elaborate.

We understand this is a difficult time for everyone at Niku Steakhouse, and we want to offer our support in a way that will benefit animals. Adding a vegan steak would mean being better poised to meet rising consumer demand for healthier, environmentally friendly, and cruelty-free options, especially among young diners. You may miss out on being chosen whenever one person in a party is vegan and other restaurants can cater to all the guests. A whopping 79% of Gen Z choose to go meat-free at least one day a week, and 65% of them say they want a more plant-based diet. The U.S. vegan food market is projected to reach $26.72 billion in 2033, growing from $9.87 billion in 2024, and the global vegan meat industry is set to more than double in value by 2030.

Of course, the most compelling reason to add a vegan steak is that, like us, other animals experience joy, pain, and fear. Cows are social animals who naturally live together in herds, have best friends, like to play, have long-term memories, and display a full range of different personality types, just as humans do—yet the majority of the more than 33 million of them killed in the U.S. annually for food spend their short lives on filthy factory farms, where they endure stressful crowding and routine mutilations. Serving a vegan steak would help eliminate such suffering.

We hope you’ll see this offer as an excellent opportunity to meet the rising demand for vegan choices. I’m sure you know that Michelin-starred restaurant Eleven Madison Park transitioned to a fully vegan menu in 2021 and hasn’t looked back. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to your response.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid Newkirk

President cc:       Dustin Falcon, Executive Chef, Niku Steakhouse, and Corporate Culinary Director, Omakase Restaurant Group